Korean studios take helm in animating homegrown webtoons

Korean animation studios are expanding their strategy to adapt homegrown webtoons into feature films, adding full in-house production alongside global partnerships. When a hit Korean webtoon got the animation treatment in the past, the actual production usually happened overseas. "Solo Leveling," based on the hit Korean web novel and webtoon, became the most-watched series on record on animation streaming service Crunchyroll. It was brought to the screen through a multinational effort involving Japanese studio and Korean companies. This model combines Korean intellectual property with Japan's decades of production infrastructure. At the same time, a broader movement has been building across the industry, with Korean studios producing theatrical animation domestically from start to finish based on local webtoon stories. "Guardians of the Video Game," based on Gasfard's Naver Webtoon, is one such project. The animated feature, scheduled to hit theaters on Oct. 14, is produced entirely by Seoul-based studio Locus. It follows the studio's previous film "Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning," an